Changlu Qingliao (長蘆清了)

Changlu Qingliao

1089 – 1151

Lineage of Changlu Qingliao Caodong school

Changlu Qingliao (長蘆清了, 1089–1151), also styled Zhenxie Qingliao (真歇清了), was a Northern- and Southern-Song Caodong master in the line of Furong Daokai who held abbacies at Changlu (長蘆寺) and Tiantong, and one of the senior Caodong teachers of the *mòzhào* ("silent illumination") revival^[1]. He is generally treated alongside his Dharma brother Hongzhi Zhengjue as a key architect of the twelfth-century Caodong renewal that prompted Dahui Zonggao's polemic against silent illumination^[2].

Qingliao is also remembered for his work on Chan monastic regulations: his *Chánlín Bèiyòng Qīnggui* (禪林備用清規) and his contributions to the broader *qīnggui* tradition helped fix the institutional procedures — meal etiquette, robe protocols, abbot's roles — that became standard across Song-period Chan monasteries^[3].

Names

dharma · enChanglu Qingliao

alias · jaChōro Seiryō

alias · zh長蘆清了

Teachers and lineage of Changlu Qingliao

Teacher / root master:

Danxia ZichunChanglu Qingliao (長蘆清了, 1088–1151) is the same person as Zhenxie Qingliao (真歇清了) — 'Changlu' refers to Mount Changlu where he served as head monk; 'Zhenxie' is his honorific title. Same dharma transmission from Danxia Zichun as the Zhenxie Qingliao node. The DB has both names as separate masters; a future cleanup pass should merge them. Per en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhenxie_Qingliao. · Dates uncertain

Full lineage of Changlu Qingliao →

Teachings

verseOn Silent Illumination
(traditional attribution)
Sitting still in the great stillness, not seeking, not striving, not thinking. The ten thousand things return to the one— and the one opens into the ten thousand. This is the teaching of silent illumination: not dead emptiness but living clarity, not suppression but the natural cessation of agitation, not achievement but recognition.
Changlu Qingliao
sermonInstructions for Zazen
(traditional attribution)
Changlu Qingliao compiled instructions for seated meditation that Dogen would later draw upon in his own Fukan Zazengi. Qingliao wrote: "Have a thick, square cushion. Sit in the half or full lotus position. Straighten the body and sit upright. Do not lean left or right, forward or back. The ears should be in line with the shoulders; the nose in line with the navel. Place the tongue against the roof of the mouth. The lips and teeth should be closed. Keep the eyes slightly open. Breathe softly through the nose. Having settled the body and breath, release all concerns. Do not think good, do not think bad. Have no grasping, no rejecting. Do not try to make the mind work—allow thought to cease of itself."
Changlu Qingliao

Other masters in Caodong

Caoshan Benji840 – 901
Hongzhi Zhengjue1091 – 1157
Tiantong Rujing1163 – 1228
Dagui Muzhe? – ?
Liangshan Yuanguan? – ?
Tongan Guanzhi? – ?

Master Record Sources

datesZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
1089-1151
Reliability: editorial
nameZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Changlu Qingliao
Reliability: editorial
teachersZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Danxia Zichun
Reliability: editorial